Kevin Love - Miami Ground Machine

[Simmy]

Posted this in the game thread but was so proud of my work that I felt it necessary to double post in the thread dedicated to the #1 back spasm culprit himself:

This is interesting. Take a look at the back injury causes for a deeper insight into why this might be a continuing problem:

- "Bad Work Design," may be referring to Lue's defensive schemes.
- "Lack of Rest" seems appropriate, given NBA players are no longer capable of competing at a high level for 82 games in a season.
- "May Have Bad Habits" is right up Kyrie Irving's alley - expect him to go down next.
- "Lack of ability." Is Brendan Haywood still on our roster?
- "Poor attitude." Hi LeBron.
- "Lack of movement" refers to our inability to move bodies and the ball, and the constant reverting to ISOs.
- "Poor shoes," some may argue, refers to Kyrie's new Nike K1s.
- "Wet/Cold Environment," well thank you, Cleveland.

 

[Cavatt]

Once Kevin Love embraces his 6th man role he will really thrive.

 

[Birdy89]

Best the offense has looked all season without him. Kyrie/Lebron were able to score without having to worry about getting him his touches. Also played at a way faster pace.

Hope he takes some time off as I want to see if they can replicate that type of offensive performance on a more regular basis.

 

[Zen]

I hate when people make assumptions on tiny sample sizes. This isn't an assumption just something you logically have to look at with how the game played out tonight, and figured it would be worth some discussion.

Now that we see (and remember) what Lebron is like at full strength, and saw how the end of the clippers game played out, is it plausible that Kevin Love really wouldn't have had a role out there? Or rather, would we be better served with an athletic 4 in that closeout situation?

It's pretty clear with Lebron and Kyrie the game is going to break down into an utter ISO show for the last 4 minutes, Love as we know is extremely limited defensively and doesn't have the length or athleticism to really make game changing plays that late. I'm trying to picture a scenario where he is anything but a 3 point decoy in these close games.

Is the threat of his 3 important enough that it would make the iso even more deadly and that outweighs his weaknesses?

What do you guys think?

 

[Sebastian]

I hate when people make assumptions on tiny sample sizes. This isn't an assumption just something you logically have to look at with how the game played out tonight, and figured it would be worth some discussion.

Now that we see (and remember) what Lebron is like at full strength, and saw how the end of the clippers game played out, is it plausible that Kevin Love really wouldn't have had a role out there? Or rather, would we be better served with an athletic 4 in that closeout situation?

It's pretty clear with Lebron and Kyrie the game is going to break down into an utter ISO show for the last 4 minutes, Love as we know is extremely limited defensively and doesn't have the length or athleticism to really make game changing plays that late. I'm trying to picture a scenario where he is anything but a 3 point decoy in these close games.

Is the threat of his 3 important enough that it would make the iso even more deadly?

What do you guys think?

If he would hit open threes than yes.

I for one want him to rest for at least three games. His shot is definitely effected by his back. When he is hitting shots it makes the offense unstoppable in the ISO.

 

[Birdy89]

Is the threat of his 3 important enough that it would make the iso even more deadly?

No. I actually thought TT gave us what we needed out of a PF tonight in that he was scrappy, rebounded well and was opportunistic around the basket.

This floor spacing idea and the need for Love has always been kind of lost on me because Kyrie/Lebron can get into any lane with ease.

We need a garbage man around the bucket to get the scraps and TT is perfectly cut out for that.

He doesn't demand offensive touches like Love does, so we aren't trying to force things which causes the offense to break down.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

Honestly, if we could trade Love for Asik and
Ryan Andersen, I might do it. Though I believe Love is still a great player, I just think that as a third option, what he brings to the table is limited, and bringing in Andersen and Asik would replace Love's role and give us a great post defender.

 

[Cashius X]

Honestly, if we could trade Love for Asik and
Ryan Andersen, I might do it. Though I believe Love is still a great player, I just think that as a third option, what he brings to the table is limited, and bringing in Andersen and Asik would replace Love's role and give us a great post defender.

Wow...

 

[Birdy89]

Though I believe Love is still a great player, I just think that as a third option, what he brings to the table is limited

It is. He is wasted as a 3rd option, and with only 1 basketball to go around that will never change.

Sad thing is I think a line-up of Kyrie/Wiggins/Lebron/TT/Mozgov could have won an awful lot of games now that I am seeing what little Love really brings to the table in the role we need him to play.

 

[Stark]

Honestly in the camp of starting Tristan/Mozgov and bringing Love off the bench to go to work against bench bigs.

 

[All4One1ForAll]

Wow...

Love has been garbage this year (by a star's standards). Let's not sugarcoat it. I just don't think he can be truly effective on this team as a third option. Ryan Andersen can be the stretch power forward in place of Love (at least he's a better 3 Pt shooter than Love) AND we get a great rim protector in Asik.

 

[Cavatt]

What do we do if we go on a tear until he rejoins and it goes in the shitter again?

 

[Stark]

Love has been garbage this year (by a star's standards). Let's not sugarcoat it. I just don't think he can be truly effective on this team as a third option. Ryan Andersen can be the stretch power forward in place of Love (at least he's a better 3 Pt shooter than Love) AND we get a great rim protector in Asik.

I'm not trading Wiggins and Bennett for Ryan Anderson and Omer Asik.

 

[Cashius X]

Love has been garbage this year (by a star's standards). Let's not sugarcoat it. I just don't think he can be truly effective on this team as a third option. Ryan Andersen can be the stretch power forward in place of Love (at least he's a better 3 Pt shooter than Love) AND we get a great rim protector in Asik.

I don't think you understand just how shitty of a return Ryan Anderson & Omer Asik is for 26&12, Olympian, and all-star Kevin Love.

That's ridiculous.

 

[TyGuy]

Ryan Anderson has looked amazing against us, but I don't think on the season he has been that great. You also have to factor in that he has had major back injuries. Not just back spasms, but a serious back injury that needed surgery. The only offer that I liked from that list was the one for Draymond Green and David Lee. I think it would be incredibly difficult to find a trade partner that could satisfy both parties, and i'm confident we can eventually utilize Love more effectively. I think we have made enough major changes in a short amount of time and really just need to stay the course, but possibly look to add more depth. I think Shumpert coming back will be huge. It will mean we don't have to rely on Delly in pressure situations in the fourth, and our perimeter defense should kick up a notch.